We hereby continue the methodical study of "The Gospel According to Spiritism" by Allan Kardec, the third of the works of the Kardecian Pentateuch. The first edition was published in April, 1864. The answers to the questions suggested for discussion are at the end of the text below.
Questions for discussion
A. According to Spiritism, what is the parents' main mission regarding their children?
B. Jesus highlights a virtue when He describes Doomsday. What is the virtue?
C. Jesus' moral can be resumed in two main virtues. What are these virtues?
D. What is the phrase written by Kardec summarizing man's duties on Earth?
Reading text
208. And you, women, who have dedicated your lives to God, go on working, but be careful that these achievements are not for the exclusive adornment of your chapels, or to call attention to your abilities and patience! Work, my daughters, so that the product of your work reverts into helping your neighbors. The poor are His dearly beloved children; to work for them is to glorify Him. (Chapter XIII, section 16, John)
209. To all those able to produce, then give, give your talents, inspirations and hearts and God will bless you. (Chapter XIII, section 16, John)
210. We are all capable of giving! Whatever our social class is, we will always find something to share. Perhaps our earthly treasures will be a little less. But, our heavenly treasures will likewise be increased. It is there, in Heaven, that we will reap a hundredfold of all that we have done to benefit others in this world. (Chapter XIII, section 16, John)
211. Compassion is the virtue which draws you closer to the angels. Compassion goes hand in hand with charity, which also brings you nearer to God. Ah! Let your hearts be moved by compassion at the sight of the miseries and sufferings of your fellow creatures. Your tears are a balm on the wounds they shed. (Chapter XIII, section 17, Michael)
212. Compassion. When compassion is deeply and truly felt, it becomes love. Love is devotion. Devotion is to forget oneself, and this forgetting, this abnegation in favor of the less fortunate, is virtue par excellence. This virtue was the one practiced by the Divine Messiah throughout His entire life and which He taught in His saintly and sublime doctrine. When this doctrine is fully restored to its original pureness and mankind submits to it, then the world will become a happy place and harmony, peace and love shall reign. (Chapter XIII, section 17, Michael)
213. Brothers, love the orphans. If you only knew how sad it is to be abandoned, especially during childhood! God allows orphans to exist to encourage us to take care of them. It is a deed of divine charity to protect a little abandoned creature, providing for it not to be hungry or feel cold, guide its soul, not letting it fall into vice! (Chapter XIII, section 18, a Family Spirit)
214. "What should we think of those who, receiving ingratitude for the good they have done, decide to stop practicing it not to come across the ungrateful?" There is far more selfishness in these people than true charity, because if they are doing good just to be recognized, then they are practicing it according to their personal interests. God only accepts the practice of goodness when it is free of all interests whatsoever. If God allows us to come across ingratitude, it is because He is testing our perseverance. (Chapter XIII, section 19, a Protecting Guide)
215. Is it right to practice charity only amongst persons of the same opinions, of the same belief, or same political party? "No, because it is precisely this idea of sects and parties that must be abolished, since all men are brothers and equal. The true Christian accepts that we are all brothers, and before helping the one who is in need, he does not stop to enquire about his belief or opinion. (Chapter XIII, section 20, Saint Louis)
216. Jesus asked: "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" And looking at those who sat around Him, He said: "This is my mother and these are my brothers, for the one, who obeys God, is my brother and my mother". Some statements made by Jesus sound odd, when compared with His goodness and benevolence. It is not possible that in one statement He destroys what he built in another. Therefore, we may arrive to the conclusion that, if certain sentences mentioned by Jesus are in contradiction to the basic principles of goodness and benevolence, then these words, to Him attributed, were wrongly reproduced, wrongly understood, or are not His. (Chapter XIV, sections 5 and 6)
217. To imagine that Jesus denied His own mother, is the same as ignoring His own character. Such denial is not in accordance with the following statement made by Jesus: Honor thy father and thy mother. Therefore, it is necessary to find another meaning to His words, which most of the times were allegories. He never missed an opportunity to teach. So, he took advantage of the moment, with the arrival of His family, to show the difference between a bodily bounded family and a spiritual bounded family. (Chapter XIV, section 7)
218. Blood ties do not necessarily bind Spirits. The body comes from the body. But the Spirit does not proceed from the Spirit, since the Spirit already existed before the body was formed. (Chapter XIV, section 8)
Answers to the proposed questions
A. According to Spiritism, what is the parents' main mission regarding their children?
According to a message signed by the Spirit of Saint Augustine, the parents' mission is to offer their children all the conditions for their progress and, by giving them all their love, to bring them nearer to God. This is the mission parents are entrusted with, and they shall be compensated if they fulfill it faithfully. So said Saint Augustine: "Have in mind that God will ask every father and mother: What have you done with the child entrusted to you? If you allowed this child to remain behind time regarding its spiritual progress, then as punishment you will have to watch it amongst the suffering Spiritis, when it depended upon you to help your child towards happiness. (The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter X, section 9.)
B. Jesus highlights a virtue when He describes Doomsday. What is the virtue?
The virtue is named charity, which He does not consider one of the conditions for salvation, but the only one. If there were others to be met, He would have mentioned them. Since He put charity in the first place, it is because it implicitly covers all the others, such as humility, kindness, benevolence, indulgence, justice, and so on. It is also the absolute negation of pride and selfishness. (Ibid, Chapter XV, sections 1, 2 and 3.)
C. Jesus' moral can be resumed in two main virtues. What are these virtues?
Charity and humility, virtues which are respectively opposed to selfishness and pride. (Ibid, Chapter XV, sections 1 and 3.)
D. What is the phrase written by Kardec summarizing man's duties on Earth?
Without charity there is no salvation. (Ibid, Chapter XV, sections 4 and 5.)
